travel dilemna (Canada)

[embee]

We are going to visit my dh's family (leaving Sunday!), and his parents have an "Alpha Omega Elite/Luxe Deluxe 3-In1, All terrain" car seat (we're travelling within Canada)

My issue is, DD is 18mos, 32" tall, and 24lbs. The seat goes RF to 32" (and 30lbs). I know she is too tall for her SR35 (which has a height limit of 32") so I'm rather concerned that she might be too tall RF for the AOE. She does have a long torso. But I do know some seats have fairly inaccurate height "guidelines" and actually fit most kids beyond the listed height. Is this one of them?

I do not want to turn her FF, as she's in a SF Complete Air at home and we plan to keep her RF until she outgrows it height-wise (which should hopefully be quite awhile).

So I guess my question is, do we go and just "hope" it fits? (it's an hour drive home from the airport) DH thinks it will be "close enough" and if it's too small we'll deal with it the next day. Do we turn her FF if she doesn't fit RF?

Or do we buy another seat to be sure it'll fit? Any suggestions? (we would likely only use the seat for this trip, and maybe subsequent trips with future children, but only once per year...)

I did think we could go to a store here and try her in the AOE but wasn't sure if shells have changed in the last couple years (the seat she would be riding in is about 2-3yrs old). And also wasn't sure whether different models had different shells? (And what stores carry them- we only have walmart and canadian tire locally)

Thanks for reading this all... hope someone can help!

 

[Pixelated]

Somebody else will hopefully chime in who has more experience with that age of seat -- but I do know that Dorel has been quite particular about the overall height limit lately (versus many manufacturers who go by the 1" of hard shell above the head rule).

If the seat has a 32" overall height limit, how your child fits in it re the 1" rule will depend entirely on how proportioned she is (short torso or long torso). And as she's at the total height limit now, you would be making a parental decision to disregard that, which you may or may not want to do, and no one would specifically advise you to purposely disregard the manual.

If you do decide to use the seat, and choose to FF instead, do make sure that the harness is at or ABOVE her shoulders, you're using the right belt path for FF, and using the top tether -- and that your inlaws have top tether anchors in their vehicle (if it's a newer vehicle - 2002 or newer - they will for sure have them clearly marked -- older than that and there's some variability as to what you'll find).

Sorry that's not a clear answer, just more info to digest. And please also note that your Complete Air, while a tall seat, has an overall height limit of 36" and is a Dorel seat as well.

 

[selinajean]

Perhaps they could measure the seat for you, from the where her bum would be up to the top of the shell. It would give you something to go off of if you want to make that parental decision to ignore the 32" rule.

 

[Keeanh]

The datatable says 23.5" internal shell height. So sit your daughter on the floor (or even better, in her car seat), and measure to the top of her head. If you measure less than 22", it shouldn't be a problem. (I'm saying that to allow 1" above her head, plus .5" for margin of error).

Since you say she is 32", and the height limit is 32", you are still within the requirements and don't need to make a "parental decision" IMO.

Did you buy a seat for her on the plane? If so, you could just take your own seat with you.

 

[tam_shops]

Tech question (curious myself) Aren't there only 2 AOE shells? The older 40#FF one and the newer 50#FF one?

I'd do all the measuring suggested above, then varify by putting her in the 40# WM AOE and make extra sure.

I can tell you that my guy (short w/ long torso) was on the top harness slots on a friends AOE (tried him this summer). So, he'd have still fit, but not for long and I don't recall RF, I was trying him to show someone how I knew her 7yo wouldn't fit in the seat harnessed anymore (and the 7yo was not there).

I would ask myself how often I plan to go and if next time I plan if I'd be ok w/ him FF then and/or be in a different financial situation. If I was planning to go often and or again in the next 6mth to a year, and still wanted to RF my guy (I would), then I'd just save myself the trouble and buy the seat now and enjoy it over the years...

Weren't the 40# RF Sceneras on sale for $60 at Walmart recently? Maybe they are still on...You could then leave that there for next time. My guy, now 2 1/2 would still fit in that RF, though he'd be on the top harness slots and I'm not sure how much shell he'd have and/or time left in the seat, but for $60 and a year or two to use it, may save you a lot of hassle and stress.

tam

 

[snowbird25ca]

Tech question (curious myself) Aren't there only 2 AOE shells? The older 40#FF one and the newer 50#FF one?

I'd do all the measuring suggested above, then varify by putting her in the 40# WM AOE and make extra sure.

The WM around here has a 50lb alpha omega - it's rare to see the 40lb ones in store anymore. They're still making them, but last time I saw them with fresh date of manufactures was when BRU had a special buy and they were being sold for $129.

To answer the question though, there are technically 4 shells. 2 for each weight version - the alpha omega and the alpha omega elite have different shells, and both of them are available with the 35lb rf'ign and 50lb ff'ing weight limit.

A seat that goes to 30lbs rf'ing is one of the older style seats and it's biggest issue is that it can be a real pain to install rf'ing unless you remove the base - at which point you need to typically have a pyramid of pool noodles to get the right angle.

A 32" child will not have outgrown even the old shell alpha omega seats by physical space in the seat.

Despite the bad rap they had, they actually weren't that unreasonable in height for average kids and short torso kids who were proportionate with weight maxed them out by weight sometimes - tall torso kids outgrew them young, but I did see kids hit 4yrs and 40lbs in them on occassion. My neighbor's ds was one of them - and yes, I was absolutely floored when I saw a 40lb child fit with a smidgeon of room to spare...

 

[tam_shops]

Thanks Trudy, interesting the Elite has a different shell...even more interesting to know some 4yo actually fit in that seat! LOL

As of last week, our WM still had tons the old 40# one w/ a 20#FF weight limit and I was surprised to see they were not trying to clear them out. Nor were they clearing out any of the other 20#FF seats. I asked the lady about it and she said I'd be surprised about what goes in the garbage and if they don't sell that's probably what would happen. Shame really...Think there was a thread about this a few weeks ago.

tam

 

[snowbird25ca]

Thanks Trudy, interesting the Elite has a different shell...even more interesting to know some 4yo actually fit in that seat! LOL

As of last week, our WM still had tons the old 40# one w/ a 20#FF weight limit and I was surprised to see they were not trying to clear them out. Nor were they clearing out any of the other 20#FF seats. I asked the lady about it and she said I'd be surprised about what goes in the garbage and if they don't sell that's probably what would happen. Shame really...Think there was a thread about this a few weeks ago.

tam

That wasn't an ao - it was an evenflo from the sounds of it. Cosco/dorel has been 22lbs minimum for ff'ing since they raised the rf'ing weight limit from 20lbs and that was back in 2000 or 2001. So if it had a 20lb ff'ing minimum it wasnt a dorel or cosco seat

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

[tam_shops]

Trudi, I think it was another mystery seat. LOL Just kidding, I *thought* it was an AO and/or all in one seat, but I looked more closely at the weight and most certainly could be wrong! Will have to check next time I am there! I'll get a picture this time! ggg

Travel w/ seats gets complex fast, one more reason not to travel for me! LOL

tam

 

[embee]

Thanks so much for the comments! I was able to take my daughter to the store today and sit her in one of the AOE's there, and she fit with LOTS of hard shell above her head (so not sure why the 32" restriction...)

Looking at the seat, it did look a lot like our CA, and she was on the same harness setting.

I did look at the Scenaras, but I thought they have a 32" RF height recommendation too? Next visit (probably a year at least) we will need to buy her a seat, and so will likely take our own car seat along...

Thank you snowbird for the info about the RF install. My SIL will likely have installed it, and she's pretty good with car seat safety (although I will check it myself of course) I asked my IL's to bring the manual to the airport... they're gonna think I'm crazy or something